For the last two weeks we’ve been looking at the difference between Christianity and other major religions – particularly their teaching about how to get to heaven. Today we will look at Christian Science which has a number of churches here in Sydney.
Christian Science is a religion started by Mary Baker Eddy in the 1800s. She claimed that she had received a direct revelation from God that gave rise to the Christian Science’s definitive book, Science and Health, With a Key to the Scriptures.
One of the primary emphases in Christian Science is Spirit over matter. From Eddy’s book we read: ‘Matter has no life, hence it has no real existence.’ Thus sickness and death are illusions. Sin is also denied: ‘…evil is but an illusion, and it has no real basis. Evil is a false belief.’
Therefore it is no surprise that Christian Science does not teach that Jesus died to pay the penalty for sins: ‘The material blood of Jesus was no more efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed upon “the accursed tree,” than when it was flowing in His veins, as he went daily about his Father’s business’.
How is one saved in Christian Science? Well if there is no sin to be saved from then there is no need to be saved. Thus Eddy wrote in her other writings: ‘Man as God’s idea is already saved with an everlasting salvation’. In Christian Science, everyone is already saved.
But the Bible teaches the opposite of what Christian Science proclaims. The apostle John writes ‘If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9).’ To obtain salvation you must recognise your sin and confess it to God who then forgives your sin through the work of Jesus at the cross. People who deny this, like those who hold to the teachings of Christian Science, cannot call themselves Christians. John says they are self-deceived.
Do you recognise your sinfulness and the need for Christ to purify you by his blood? Or do you follow false teachings, like those of Christian Science?
Joel Radford
Responding to your post about Christian Science is difficult without providing a more complete explanation of the teachings of Christian Science and some discussion as to how one defines words like sin, death, salvation, and so on. (I'm afraid this comment block is a bit short on space for that sort of thing). One or two quotes from Science and Health hardly tells the whole story. Defining what it means to be a Christian is not always easy. For me, as a practicing Christian Scientist, it means doing my best to follow both the teachings and example of the Master Christian, Jesus Christ, which includes healing the sick through reliance on prayer and one's ever-evolving understanding of God and man's relationship to Him. I may or may not look like a Christian in the eyes of some of my fellow Christians, but I'd like to think I do in the eyes God and according to the standard given us by Jesus himself.
Sin – a huge topic sometimes misunderstood. Your quotes by Mary Baker Eddy are correct but don't really begin to explain the concept of sin as understood in Christian Science and would take a lot more space than we have here.
May I add one more quote from Eddy as given in the Tenets in her Church Manual which help quide the members of the church, "We acknowledge God's forgiveness of sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts."
If a person needs to take a train and believes that railroad tracks converge does that make it real? Of course not, and he can prove the reality by walking down the tracks, therefore ridding himself of the belief. What is his "punishment"? He might never get on a train. Is God punishing him or is his belief in this unreality? I would say the belief. Getting rid of the belief, he is no longer punished by not being able to ride the train and get where he has to go.
If I am doing something wrong and I stop doing it, and even more understand that it is wrong, I have destroyed the "sin" by getting rid of my belief in it as real. The consequence or punishment then ceases.
There is so much more that could be said on this topic. As a Christian Scientists I try my best to determine if what I am doing is based on what Christ Jesus lived and taught. If so, then I can be pretty sure that I am heading in the right direction.
Hi Joel. I applaud your effort to learn about other Christian denominations.
I've been working to understand better what sin is. Sin can be equated with a black spot on my spiritual ledger, like getting a poor grade on a math test. In other words, sin may be understood as judgment on my decisions. Let's assume this is the correct definition. The next question is how does this judgment glorify God? You might be better able to answer that question than me, but I will suggest a working solution that the judgment itself doesn't glorify God, but rather the redemption from the behavior that caused the judgment. God inspires this redemption through His love and goodness. Jesus is the agent of my redemption in the same way, through his inspirational sacrifice.
Answers to questions like "what is sin" are always able to be improved, but a working answer is the one that glorifies God. I'd be interested to know your response to my thoughts.
Best,
Sara
If Christian Science teaches that everyone is saved and that evil doesn’t really exist, then how do they explain “being cast into the lake of fire” that Jesus spoke of .
Further thought on my comment –
I find this solution leaves open the question of how redemption works. Does inspiration work on my human mind to prevent me from sinning further, changing me into a better person? God is not equivalent to inspiration, so does He create me again as a better version of myself? This implies the passage of time and the accumulation of historical events, which don't apply to God, as far as I know.
To those Christian Scientists who commented, I would ask you too whether you understand God to be equivalent to inspiration that saves or rather a being that inspires. If He is a being that inspires, does His action enable me to change on my own or does He act to change me?
To saranicole who asked,
To those Christian Scientists who commented, I would ask you too whether you understand God to be equivalent to inspiration that saves or rather a being that inspires. If He is a being that inspires, does His action enable me to change on my own or does He act to change me?
Your question is a good one—thought provoking! To me, as a Christian Scientist, inspiration is the wonderful spiritual sense I get when I understand God better—when I get a new idea about his nature or how he cares for his creation, including man. So, to me, inspiration is not God, but the spiritual sense that I gain due to my relationship with God. And, yes, I do understand God to be a being that inspires and saves, but not in an arbitrary or perfunctory way. I understand God to love and save us all, because we are all his children, but this love and salvation is only experienced when we better understand our relationship with God. Thus the need to keep studying (Christian Scientists study the Bible and Science and Health with key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy), praying and acting in a Christian manner. That is the “working out our salvation” that Paul speaks of. We have a vital part in working out and experiencing our salvation. Every time I am deeply inspired (and this happens often), I feel closer to God, and I am experiencing my salvation.
@Brenda thank you for responding.
So if salvation happens due to inspiration, is salvation entirely an internal thing? Am I saved because I feel saved? I would think salvation is a continual process unrelated to emotion or opinion. This is because I know that if I become purified of my sins once I still might sin again. In that case, is salvation ever complete? Or when I die does my salvation become "finalized"? If so, does God only really finish me off, for good bad or imperfect, once I die?
Brenda is doing some hard work here so if anyone else is following along this is your moment to jump in.
Thank you, saranicole, for the tone of your questions. I certainly can not speak for the Christian Science church or Christian Scientists in general, but I can speak from my own understanding. You seemed to be going in the direction I feel is correct regarding salvation. That is that salvation is not a one time event—either you are saved or you are not—but an ongoing discovery of who we are as God’s children. Each time we get a new insight, a new inspiration, it leads to greater understanding of God and his creation and our place in that creation. And taking salvation out of the realm of emotion and opinion, I think is helpful. Emotions and opinions are very changeable, whereas God is not. However, our understanding of God changes as we grow spiritually. That is why I try to not make absolute statements about God. My understanding is improving, and every day brings something new.
And to your questions: is salvation entirely an internal thing? Am I saved because I feel saved? I would ask first, what is it that we are being saved from or for? To me, it makes sense to think that we are saved from believing a lie about ourselves. As long as we think of ourselves as material, mortal beings (as described in Genesis 2), there is not much hope for progress. But taking Genesis 1 as the true and spiritual account of creation, we have more hope for ourselves as spiritual children of God made in his image. So salvation, to me is being saved from thinking of myself as a mortal, material being. I know this runs counter to much of what is believed by the other Christian churches, but this is what Christian Science teaches. This spiritual way of thinking of oneself and others is how healings are accomplished in Christian Science.
Your comments regarding sin are also thought provoking. I find it helpful to begin by getting a clearer understanding of what is meant by the word “sin”. My understanding is that the original meaning of “sin” is “missing the mark”. In this case, I would assume that “the mark” is God or understanding God. Anything that I do or think that doesn’t go in the direction of understanding God better is “sinning”. This take some of the guilt and blame out of the thought of sin, but it doesn’t justify it or make it ok. Instead, again to my way of thinking, sinning carries with it a penalty—we usually know when we do it and we don’t like the way its makes us feel. So that makes us want to turn away from the sin and do it no more. This, of course, can take many iterations. We may sin many times, before, through God’s constant care and grace, we are finally able to leave it behind. For those who do not know that they are sinning, God will provide the experiences needed to take away the love of sin.
Your final remark regarding death and our position with God if we have not been purified of sin by that point is a very good one, and I would love to hear what others have to say. I will tackle it just a bit, by saying that it has helped me to think of what Paul said in the New Testament regarding death being the last enemy to be overcome (KJV says “destroyed”). That clearly points out that death is not our friend—not something to embrace and look forward to. Instead, as I think of it, it is a transition to continuing life. The nature of this continuing life is not clearly known to us, but to me it makes sense that I would pick up where I left off regarding my understanding of God. It seems to me that a good God would never punish his children for what they couldn’t or didn’t understand, but instead would allow them to continue in their striving to understand more of Him and his nature. Anyway, that is where my thinking is currently. Sorry this is so long!
Thank you, saranicole, for the tone of your questions. I certainly can not speak for the Christian Science church or Christian Scientists in general, but I can speak from my own understanding. You seemed to be going in the direction I feel is correct regarding salvation. That is that salvation is not a one time event—either you are saved or you are not—but an ongoing discovery of who we are as God’s children. Each time we get a new insight, a new inspiration, it leads to greater understanding of God and his creation and our place in that creation. And taking salvation out of the realm of emotion and opinion, I think is helpful. Emotions and opinions are very changeable, whereas God is not. However, our understanding of God changes as we grow spiritually. That is why I try to not make absolute statements about God. My understanding is improving, and every day brings something new.
And to your questions: is salvation entirely an internal thing? Am I saved because I feel saved? I would ask first, what is it that we are being saved from or for? To me, it makes sense to think that we are saved from believing a lie about ourselves. As long as we think of ourselves as material, mortal beings (as described in Genesis 2), there is not much hope for progress. But taking Genesis 1 as the true and spiritual account of creation, we have more hope for ourselves as spiritual children of God. So salvation, to me is being saved from thinking of myself as a mortal, material being. I know this runs counter to much of what is believed by the other Christian churches, but this is what Christian Science teaches. This spiritual way of thinking of oneself and others is how healings are accomplished in Christian Science.
Your comments regarding sin are also thought provoking. I find it helpful to begin by getting a clearer understanding of what is meant by the word “sin”. My understanding is that the original meaning of “sin” is “missing the mark”. In this case, I would assume that “the mark” is God or understanding God. Anything that I do or think that doesn’t go in the direction of understanding God better is “sinning”. This take some of the guilt and blame out of the thought of sin, but it doesn’t justify it or make it ok. Instead, again to my way of thinking, sinning carries with it a penalty—we usually know when we do it and we don’t like the way its makes us feel. So that makes us want to turn away from the sin and do it no more. This, of course, can take many iterations. We may sin many times, before, through God’s constant care and grace, we are finally able to leave it behind. For those who do not know that they are sinning, God will provide the experiences needed to take away the love of sin.
Your final remark regarding death and our position with God if we have not been purified of sin by that point is a very good one, and I would love to hear what others have to say. I will tackle it just a bit, by saying that it has helped me to think of what Paul said in the New Testament regarding death being the last enemy to be overcome (KJV says “destroyed”). That clearly points out that death is not our friend—not something to embrace and look forward to. Instead, as I think of it, it is a transition to continuing life. The nature of this continuing life is not clearly known to us, but to me it makes sense that I would pick up where I left off regarding my understanding of God. It seems to me that a good God would never punish his children for what they couldn’t or didn’t understand, but instead would allow them to continue in their striving to understand more of Him and his nature. Anyway, that is where my thinking is currently. Sorry this is so long!
Also hospitals and doctors are not bad. They are gifts from God. The same way God gave knowledge to invent cellphones, cars, washing machine and microwave etc He also gave knowledge in medicine for those who need it. Trust in God even as you take medication, God heals through various ways. Its not the medication but God that heals eventually . so do not hope wrongly on medication which can lead to addiction and loss of life. But hope in God even as you take help from the certified doctors and nurses in the hospital.